1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless telephony; and more particularly to Subscriber Identity Module (SIMs) contained within wireless telephones.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellular, satellite, and other types of mobile telephony are well known. Cell phones and other subscribe devices typically include a removable Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) that stores a service-subscriber key that is used for authentication and identification of a subscriber within a cellular network or a satellite network when the subscriber accesses the cellular or satellite network. A cellular network operator typically offers voice call service, data communication service and short message service (SMS). Each mobile phone has one or more cellular network specific transceivers that service voice, data, and short message communications. For example, a transceiver that supports connection to a GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) cellular network is different from a transceiver that supports connection to a North American CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) cellular network.
Mobile phones may support a variety of additional features such as GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver operations, NFCs (Near Field Communications), Bluetooth communications, FM radio reception, Infrared communications, etc. Typically, the mobile phone must have built-in hardware and software to support these additional features. For example, when enabling communication with other Bluetooth devices, the mobile phone must have a Bluetooth compatible transceiver, i.e., a transceiver that supports the Bluetooth air interface. For enabling GPS operations, the phone must have a GPS receiver that is capable of picking up frequencies transmitted by GPS satellites. The mobile phone needs a NFC compatible radio for near field communications with a reader, smart card, or another NFC device. The phone needs an infrared transceiver, i.e., an LED (light emitting diode) and supporting electronics to support short range IR (Infrared) data communications with a computer or a PDA (personal digital assistant). Hardware that supports these additional features is costly. The subscriber has to pay for a costly phone with multiple additional features even if the subscriber desires to have only one or two of these features. Furthermore, a subscriber desiring a feature unsupported by his/her current phone must upgrade to new equipment in order to secure the additional functional features.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art through comparison of such systems with various aspects of the present invention.